A Study in Magic and Life
by KatyBenBen
Summary: All is not as it seems in the life of Dr. John Watson. Little does he know that when he brings his girlfriend home to meet his flat mate, he will find out a secret that the pair of them had been hiding from him for years.


Chapter 1: A Secret Revealed

This was it. This could either go wonderfully, or horribly wrong. It was the day I introduced my girlfriend Riley Johansson to my flatmate Sherlock Holmes, who also happens to be my best friend. I'd never been so worried in my life. Sherlock can come off as…. obnoxious in the best of cases. At the worst of times, he can be downright unpleasant and rude. I was just hoping he could play nice.

After encountering no problems in picking up Riley, I started to feel that this meeting could actually go well. It was once I brought Riley to our flat that it started to get interesting. The door was already open, so Sherlock must have heard us talking as we came up the steps. As we were talking about him, he may have actually paid attention.

"Sherlock, I want you to meet Riley Johansson, my girlfriend," I said as I walked into the sitting room. "Riley, this is my best friend and flatmate, Sherlock Holmes." At first, I didn't understand why neither of them was talking. They were just staring at each other, Sherlock with a confused look and Riley with a shocked one. It was then that I heard a faint whisper from Riley, and I knew something was wrong.

"Sherly?" she whispered, sounding tentative, shocked, and confused all at once. "Is that you?"

"Ry-Ry?" Sherlock's disbelieving tone had me even more confused than Riley's question.

"I thought you were dead," Riley said, her eyes tearing up. "When you disappeared, we didn't know what to think. We all assumed the worst."

"I had to hide. They were searching for me, and I couldn't put you, Greg, and Sara in danger. I couldn't let anyone know where I was." Sherlock looked the saddest I had ever seen him, and I began to wonder what was going on between him and my girlfriend.

"Even after he killed James and Lily? Even though we knew he was gone, and the threat diminished?" Riley was starting to cry, though she looked angry as well. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

"The threat may have been diminished, but it was never fully gone. I thought you would understand that, given your profession."

At that statement, I knew that there was something Sherlock and Riley shared that I had no information on, and I needed to know what all of this was about. Before I could say anything, Riley asked another question that caught me off guard.

"Do Greg and Sara know you're alive?" At the second mention of a Greg and Sara, I thought of Sherlock's colleague Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade and his wife Sara. Was that who Riley and Sherlock were talking about?

"Yes," was the simple answer Riley got. "Greg found me through Mycroft. My brother's in the British Government, and Greg is working with them to protect the Muggles."

I really had no idea what they were talking about anymore. Muggles? What kind of a word was that? What surprised me even more was Sherlock reaching out and wrapping Riley in a tight embrace. By now it was obvious that the two knew each other, but I was still trying to work out how. I got my answer shortly after that, and it was certainly not anything I ever could have expected.

After Riley pulled away from Sherlock, they both looked at me like they had forgotten I was there. Looking back at each other, they said in unison, "Did you tell him?"

Having their answer, they turned to me with a look that said I was in for a long explanation, which I certainly thought I deserved. Taking my hand and leading me to the couch, Riley said, "I'm sorry you have to hear it this way, but there's something we need to tell you. I was trying to keep you safe from all of this, but since you live with Sherly, are dating me, and probably know Greg and Sara, we can't keep this from you."

That was when I heard the strangest, yet most crucial, words come out of my best friend's mouth. "John," said Sherlock, "Greg and I are wizards, and Riley and Sara are witches. We're part of the magical world that you know nothing about. We fought in a war against an evil wizard who had been defeated, but not permanently."

"You mean to tell me that there's a whole world out there I've never seen or heard before, and my closest friends are all a part of it?" I was starting to feel slightly faint, and was glad I was sitting.

"Yes sweetheart. I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you. I didn't know you knew Shirley, Greg, and Sara or I wouldn't have been so secretive. We all had your best interests at heart." Riley's affirmation of Sherlock's story did not make me feel any better.

"I need some fresh air," I said, getting up and walking to the door. When the door opened of its own accord, I turned back to look at the two of them. Sherlock stood there with a stick of wood pointing at the door. He muttered something, and with a swish of the stick the door closed again.

I never made it outside for that air, for I fainted before I could get any further. The display of what I was to learn was magic was too much for me. What I thought was going to be a simple meeting between my girlfriend and flatmate turned into something much, much more.


End file.
